THE AMAZING STONE AND OTHER CHILDREN STORIES
Photo credit: alive from morguefile.com
TABLE OF CONTENT
i)Why the lizards nodes
ii)The origin of the Mountains
iii)The Dance of the Trees
iv)The amazing stone
v)The mysterious village
1- WHY THE LIZARDS NODES
Once upon a time the lizards lived on very tall and huge rocks. By that time people were living in mad houses thatched with grass and the earth gave them a perfect floor as a gift from the Creator. There were no tall buildings in any villages on earth since that was the only house design that people knew . As the lizards lived on rocks they could monitor various activities carried out by human beings on earth very well as they enjoy the warmth from the beautiful shining sun upon the earth.
Lizards realized that human beings had various celebrations in various occasions. When a child was born ululations would be made and a big ceremony would be done either on the same day or the next day to welcome the new born. Various people would visit that home carrying gifts for the newborn whereas the naming would be done by the village elders to identify the newborn with the community where he or she has been born. The lizards were more amazed because this was carried out each and every time there was a new born in the society.
During circumcision, traditional dances were played and people would dance the whole night as they wait for the big ceremony very early in the morning. The dancing involved all the villages whereby the age group that were to be circumcised danced under the supervision of elders. Bulls were slaughtered and the women would cook traditional meals to grace the occasion that night. Special drinks for the elders were also prepared as a sign of recognition and honour for the position they held in the society.
After the circumcision the circumcised teenagers would be secluded for a while for some teachings on how to behave and their roles in the community. They boys would be taught how to take the roles of protecting and proving for the family while the girls would be taught how to take care of their children and also how to carry out some chores in the family. The teachings would be done for some time which also provided some time for them to heal.
After that period they would go back to their homes and a big celebration was made on their honour to welcome them back. Special meals and drinks were prepared to honour their courage and also as a home welcome. The occasion was graced with rituals from the elders and special prayers to the Creator for these age group that had now became adults. Traditional dances entertained the people enjoyed they meals. The lizards were amazed by this honour for the circumcised.
That was not all, When people got married a big celebration was also done. People would dance, sing and prepare special meals for the occasion for a week or days. It was a celebration that brought many people together from all the corners of the village. The married couples were showed with gifts to honour there day. They were also built for a new house where they would live with their children. The grooms father also gave the married couple a very big piece of land that enabled them to start their new life.
The lizards were more amazed when the daughter of the king was getting married because the wedding celebration took a whole month after which the couple was escorted by the whole village with dancing and singing up to the groom homestead in the neighboring village. The groom was also a son of a King and on their arrival to that village the bride was welcomed in a celebration that took two months to honour the newly wed.
The lizards also noticed there was a celebration when one dies. People would come together from all the corners of the earth sing, pray and dedicate the deceased to God. The ceremony was carried out for about a week and later a day to burry the deceased was organized where people would come together to give an honourable send off to the deceased. People would also talk of the good relationship they had with the deceased and they would also appreciate their good works.
A big celebration was also done when there was abundant harvest and people offered sacrifices to the Creator to thank Him for the abundant blessings in their life. These celebrations were led by the religious elders to honour the Creator for the provision of food in the society. The people would also bring gifts to be distributed to the less fortunate in order to share the blessings with others. The lizards observed all these honours that were accompanied by the big celebrations.
After some years hunger striked the earth such that there was nothing left to eat. People ate all the animals they had and they even went to an extent of eating their own children. All the rivers, boreholes, springs and even swamps dried up. People had to cut down the roots of the trees to suck out water from them. It was a struggle for survival in all the corners of the world with people not knowing where to go. Thousands of people and animals died during these period. The people who were left became weak and weary with nothing left for them to survive on.
A young man named Kamutu decided to dig a hole underground to see if they could reach the underground water. On hearing these other young men in the village decided to join him so that they could see if they would finally get some water which would enable them to survive before the rains. The young men encouraged each other and they decided to start digging the boreholes. They dug the hole for four months because they were weak with empty stomach even many died as they tried to reach the water table.
On top of that they had no advanced tools which would enable them to reach the water table in a short period of time. They were using sharpened stones and sticks. By the time Kamutu reached the water table all the men who were helping him dig the borehole had died because of hunger but he finally managed to get water. These news of the borehole in the village of Akiki spread far and wide in all the villages on earth. People came from all over the earth to quench there thurst.
A big celebration was carried out to honour Kamatu for the good work that he did. Songs of praises were sang to praise him and all the traditional dances were danced to honour Kamutu. Everybody wanted to shake Kamutu’s hand and even carry him around. The celebration to honour Kamutu was an amazing one.
Only one lizard survived the long drought period. The lizard watched closely how the people congratulated Kamutu. Every day as the people took water they would sing his name. This was not like any other celebration that lasted for a few days and people would forget about it. This was continuous thing. The lizard was now more than amazed with these endless celebrations of honour among human beings.
There was one woman named Kamama who was very wise. She advised the people to use water to irrigate the few seeds of maize and beans that they could collect on the ground and in their stores. Everybody walked from store to store in villages and they found some seeds. Using water from the boreholes, they planted and took care of the crops as required. The Creator had mercy on them such that the crops grew well and gave them an abundant harvest. The people then came together to honour the Creator as an honour for the blessings over their life.
People from other villages did not want to go back to their villages they settled in Akiki which was now a fruitful land full of food and water supply. After some years, people started fighting over land for settlement, irrigation and agriculture. The fight went on and on for a long period of time .The young men of Akiki started came together and decided to chase the people from other villages back to their homes.
They organized themselves and they chose Ikuema to be their leader. They started the operation and after sometimes they succeeded to drive everybody who did not belong to that village out of that area. Ikuema was highly celebrated, songs were sung to praise him and he was even made the king of that area after their king died. Ikuema waged war against other villages and was able to extend their land for settlement and agriculture.
Kamutu who dug the borehole, Kamama who advised people to practice irrigation and Ikuema who brought peace after chasing people out of that area were really celebrated, honoured, appreciated and even newborns were named after them. The lizard noted that when someone did something special he or she was celebrated.
One day the lizard was on the tallest rock in that village and as it was basking it fell down. It looked at itself and looked at the height of the rock and realized it had done something great. There was no one to appreciate and congratulate the lizard therefore, it nodded to appreciate itself because it was the first lizard to survive such a tall rock. This behavior of appreciation the lizard had learned from people that when someone did an extraordinary thing he or she must be appreciated. That’s the reason why even today the lizards appreciate themselves when they fall off buildings, trees or rocks by nodding.
2- THE ORIGIN OF THE MOUNTAINS
Once upon a time mother earth was flat. The whole earth was beautiful while the ends of it appeared to be covered by the clouds. The rivers were flowing through villages but no one came to know the origin or the end of the river, it just appeared as a long winding snake on land. There were no forests. The land was well covered with green grass. One could clearly see the wild and domestic animals grazing very well. The wild animals were very friendly because they were all feeding on grass and not meat. Everything was beautiful.
One could not differentiate one village from the other because the houses were built in the same design that is, rounded mud walls and thatched with grass. People wore the same clothes, the crops in the fields were the same and they all kept the same type of animals. Everything was the same in all the villages on the earth. People were not moving from place to place because everything was available where they were, so nobody knew what lied beyond their village. Due to the area being flat the people thought that the end of the world could just be seen by their own eyes.
One day some young men from the village of Iyama planned to walk up to the end of the world where they saw as if the clouds had touched down the earth. They walked for days and days and the place seemed further and further. They reached a point where they were all tired with nothing to eat and they decided to go back home. The bad thing is that they could not remember the direction. They walked and walked and they could not trace their way back home since everyplace looked the same.
These young men died on their way back home as they tried to find their homes. The people who were left at home waited for them to come back but they did not appear. Years passed and the young men were forgotten in their villages. One evening some small kids from the same village were playing outside their homestead running from one place to another they ran and ran and they found themselves in Ayama village. They could not trace their way back home. The parents searched for them because it was getting dark but they could not find them.
The fathers of those kids together with other villagers decided to look for those kids. They divided themselves into four groups to follow the four different directions from home. The men who travelled towards east they found the kids in Ayama village of which they realized that village was not far from their village. They could not understand the language of the people there but they realized that they were pointing different direction in a complaining manner. The men from Iyama village carried the kids back home.
The men who went in the other directions walked and walked till they were tired. They decided to go back home. They got lost and after a few days they managed to find their way home. When they got home they explained how it is difficult to find the way back home since everywhere was the same. That night the religious leaders lead the community in prayers and they cried to God to give then a symbol that everybody could see so that they could be able to trace their way back home when they get lost.
They kept praying the same prayer. Surprisingly, all the villages on earth were facing the same problem. Years passed and drought striked the land. The land was so dry with nothing to eat people ate all what they had. They then decided to eat their domestic animals which they kept only for sacrificial purposes to their God. They later realized that the animal meat was superb, they ate all their domestic animals until nothing was left. They now started hunting the wild animals killing and eating them one by one.
Seeing this, the animals called for a meeting and they decided to attack the human beings because they are hunting them down.
As the animal attacked the human being they also realized their meat was sweet and could satisfy them since the land was bare without grass. The human animal conflict began, the human being could hunt and kill the animals they could and the carnivorous animals could kill and eat the human beings. The animals were too tough than human beings. The Religious leaders saw that the animals were going to finish them. They really cried to God to separate them from wild animals.
One night as they were praying inside their huts the earth shook, everywhere and different mountains were formed and heavy rains followed thus no one got out that night. The following morning people were amazed to see such features. The mountains could be differentiated because some were tall than other and also some were wider than the others, they thanked God for giving them a symbol at least they could now locate their way back home when they got lost. Still the problem of people and wild animal’s conflict was on.
The rains continued and now the land was covered with food and green grass all over but still the wild animals were attacking the human beings. The people prayed and cried to God little did they know He had a plan when He created the mountains. Due to heavy rainfall, different plant species grew. The people were shocked to see the plants that grew taller than them and they called them trees. The trees were too many and covered most of the mountainous region since it was the area that received high rainfall.
The wild animals enjoyed the area that was covered with trees because of shades and food for the animals that feeds on grass. The animals that were used to human meat feared to get out of the forested area because everybody could see and kill them. They stayed in the forest and started hunting other animals. The human animal conflict stopped. People thanked God for that. That’s how the mountains come to be.
3-THE DANCE OF THE TREES
Once upon a time the trees stood still and could not be shaken by anything. The trees only grew upwards and did not advance its branches to the sides. The trees were respected and feared among the plant community because of their height. The sun, wind and rain were friends and one evening they were conversing and as they were sited on the sky they looked down and saw how the other plants feared the trees. One evening the wind, rainfall and sunshine decided to eliminate trees.
This brought a huge fight among the three of them on who was strong and could easily destroy the trees. The rain said it was the strongest and it could easily bring all the trees down and to no existence. The wind and the sun decided to give the rain a chance to destroy the trees and see how far it can go. The rain did all it could with all its strength, there was a heavy downpour of rain that covered the land. The sun and the wind were silent and this shocked them. Surprisingly, after that long period of heavy downpour of rain the trees become stronger and beautiful.
The trees began to have branches which were wide and strong. This was amazing because the rainfall did more good to the trees than harm. After that long period of rainfall the wind said it was going to bring down the trees no matter how strong they were. The wind blew from all corners of the world. It blew day and night, This did not do any harm to the trees in fact the trees followed the direction with which the wind was blowing. This was more than beautiful; the trees could now dance in different direction.
The wind got disappointed and went down in silent. It was now the turn for the sun to do its best. The sun become too scorchy drying everything that covered the earth up. At least the sun managed to do something to the trees. It dried everything on the tree. Seeing this, the wind was jealous; it blew vigorously making all the dry leaves on the trees and the dry branches to fall down bringing the weak trees down. They tried harder and harder for days but they could not make to destroy all the trees.
The sunshine and the wind discovered that they could really work together very well. The rain become jealous and could even not talk to the sun or the wind. It poured out heavenly and it strengthens the trees again. The jealous between the rain and its friends the wind and the sun is still witnessed up to today. Before the downpour of rain the wind would try to stop the rain by blowing hard. After the rainfall the sun shines to burn everything up to discourage the work of the rain.
Despite the challenges the trees leant to coup up by dancing. When it’s windy the trees dance according to the direction of the wind. When it is sunny the leaves of the trees withers and fall down and when it is rainy the trees break dance by enlarging their branches. That’s the dance of the trees when it is challenged? What is your dance kid? And when do you dance?
4- THE AMAZING STONE
Long ago there was an amazing stone in the village of ukuku. The stone was huge and its shape scared everybody. People could travel from far to come and see the stone. No one could climb on that stone because it was slippery and it was also like a strong magnet whereby if anyone tried to touch it the hand would stuck there and unless it was cut off no one could get the hand off that place. The stone was shining at night and very dark during the day, this was something that amazed everybody on the planet Earth.
One morning the people of Ukuku realized there was something different with the stone it was very dark and dry with big cracks. At night the stone did not shine as usual and its cracks were widening. People who were living near that stone were advised by the elders of the village to shift to another place because the stone might break to pieces and cause destructions. The cracks on the stone become wider and after some days the stone broke into pieces but it did not fall or cause any destruction.
Everybody was amazed and they took it as a sign of bad Omen. After one year a very severe hunger striked the land .Everything was dry, there was nothing to eat people become weak and died of hunger. The condition was worse all over the earth. The people prayed to their God for mercy. They ate even poisonous animals and they had to dig out the roots of the trees to suck out water from them. The land was bear and it had even started to crack because of the dry conditions.
One evening there was a big shock in the village of ukuku everybody went out. They looked everywhere to check what was happening. Surprisingly, the stone was collecting itself together piece after piece. This amazed the people. In the morning the stone was back to its original shape and day colour. This was more than amazing. The people were shocked and could not go near the stone. After sometimes tears started dropping from the stone, the people of Ukuku started running away.
The few elders who were surviving the drought called everybody and told them to pray to their creator because the stone was maybe trying to communicate something to them like the coming of rains. Two days after that astonishing moment by the stone it started raining. The people were very happy and they did not even remember something had happened with the stone. The life all over the earth went on well and as usual. The stone could still shine at night and become dark during the day and everybody saw this as usual thing.
After sometime, the stone again captured people attention. Tears were falling of it like a stream. The elders brought people together and told them to pray because that was a sign of bad omen. The people were ignorant and told the elders that was just the amazing work of the creator and nobody would change that because the last time the stone cried they thought it was predicting the coming of the rains but this time everything is okay. The elders saw sense in what the people were talking about and therefore they did not consult the creator.
Two weeks after that the earth was covered with floods. The trees were also covered with water. People climbed on mountain tops to seek refuge the floods were terrible and many people died. After three months the water went down and everything was normal. All the old people had died because they did not have strength to climb the mountain tops. Nobody remembered to thank the creator. The generation that was left did not even bother to pray and offer sacrifice to God. They lived a world with no rules and they could do all what they wanted.
After some years the stone become white and everybody went to check what was happening. The stone was as white as snow and drops of water were falling from it the people who had seen the stone behaving in different manner told the others not to bother because that was normal. The stone become brighter daily with tears still falling down from it. People did not know the Creator was using the stone to predict the coming of different seasons. The creator was tired with this people because everybody was for him or herself.
He decided to communicate through the stone. One evening people were enjoying themselves around the fire singing various traditional songs. The stone shined bright that there was light everywhere, it grew tall to the extent that everybody on earth could see it. The stone opened up and began to talk. Everybody was shocked beyond words. The stone told the people that the Creator was angry because they no longer offered sacrifices, they no longer pray and they did things that were unpleasant before Him.
The stone also said, the Creator was merciful and placed it there for them to predict the seasons and pray to Him to have mercy on them if the seasons were not favorable. It continued to say the day it dried and cracked it was predicting severe drought, the day it collected itself together and cried it predicted rain, the day it cried like a stream it predicted floods and the day it become white and cried it predicted the unpleasant things that people had done against their Creator and needed to ask for forgiveness.
The ignorance of the people made them not to realize this. They really cried before their creator and they asked for forgiveness. The Creator was merciful and forgave them and renewed their relationship. That’s why you see the people praying and thanking God all the time.
Children do you know how to read the signs of things before they happen? And what do you do in situations that you cannot control?
5- THE MYSTERIOUS VILLAGE
Kembo and Gengo were great friends from tupendane village. These two friends did not get an opportunity to go to school because in their village all the young boys were trained by the older men on how to fight, take care of the animals and protect the community. Kembo and Gengo could spend most of their daytime taking care of the cattle in the fields. They played different games, sang various songs and swam in the one and only river that passed across the village to make their day.
They tried to make the very best of each day and they did what any other boy of their age could do to make their lives lively. They approached elders in the village to quench their curiosity of the many questions that ran across their young minds. They tried as much as they could to understand each and everything that lied around them. Their parents were always proud of them because they were obedient and they did the work their work at home to their perfection.
There was something special about these two friends. They were able to study different types of trees during their free time walk in the forests and discovered the tress that their leaves and roots could be used to make medicine. They also learnt how to treat different diseases using herbs from roots and leaves of the trees. The people in the village started calling them ‘wagaga’ and they loved them so much for the free treatment services they gave them. Everybody come to know about them in their village.
They would walk from place to place trying to discover what lied beyond where they lived as they treated more and more people from various villages. They went to the neighbouring villages and taught people how to make medicine from leaves and roots of different trees. They were determined to reach as many people as possible. Everywhere they went people gave them different types of animals as gifts for their services and these made them very rich.
One afternoon, as they were walking to look for another village they saw many mountains surrounding a place and they decided to go and see the wonderful place. As they drew near the place they were shocked beyond words the mountains were very tall and they were covered with thick dark forests. They had never seen such a beautiful place before and so they stood there looking for a way they would penetrate into that place to see what was there.
After walking around the mountains for a while, they saw a path between two mountains and with their curiosity they decided to follow it.They walked through that path admiring and enjoying the beautiful environment which was covered by the green grasses and beautiful trees . Springs and various water falls spiced up the environment. These two friends were amazed by the beautiful scenery which they had never seen in all the villages they went to .
After walking for hours they saw roads that were made of golden shining and they decided to follow one broad road. They walked for a while and they later saw very beautiful huts made of gold and roofed with silver. The houses glittered from far and so they went nearer to see the amazing huts. They could not close their mouths but remained shocked of these wonderful things that they saw. They looked around and all the huts looked the same and the roads also looked the same. The trees in that place were broad, conically shaped with broad shining leaves. Everything in that village was amazing.
In the twinkling of an eye, they saw very tall and dark people they had never seen before. These people wore shinny clothes made of gold and silver with diamond ornaments all around their bodies. The people from this village they were like giants and could smell the presence of anything that did not belong to that area. They smelled their presence and went towards them. Kembo and Gengo tried to run but they were caught. This mysterious people carried them and took them to their king.
The two friends were terrified but on reaching the king’s palace the amazing place took off their minds. The buildings were so tall and they were made of pure gold. The grass and the springs around the king’s palace together with the well-arranged flowered trees amazed them more. To instead of dog’s giving security, lions Giants-like guards who were well armed with arrows surrounded the King’s palace . The two friends were brought before the king and the guards tried to interrogate them by asking them questions.
They could not understand their language but they tried to use signs to explain themselves. A trumpet was blown and all the people from the mysterious village gathered on an open ground near the king’s palace. The people were shocked to see creatures that looked like them but very tiny. The elders and religious leaders from the village decided that the two boys should be left free since it was like a good sign from the Creator to send people who looked like them. The king ordered Kembo and Gengo to stay in the palace for some time before he decided what to do with them.
Kembo and Gengo thought they were dreaming they had never seen such a beautiful place with strange people before. Meal time was like a banquet with all type of foods, fruits and drinks. The following morning the king ordered the guards to show the two friends around. Everything they saw shocked them. The ground of that village was covered with silver, gold and diamonds .What amazed them most is that people interacted well with the wild animals even the most dangerous and feared one sand there was no domesticating of animals in that village. There were plenty of big and wide rivers that were flowing from the forested areas that covered the mountains. These rivers provided water for domestic use and animals.
The area had lakes and oceans which these two friends had never seen before and the trees here were tall than the usual ones. Different types of plants and fruits grew in that area without being planted by anyone. People in that village had never experienced sunshine, wind or rain. The weather was calm and everything was good. The people of this village were lazy and the only thing they could do is just making clothes for their bodies because everything was available.
The king was the one to select the men who he wanted to be his guards. Festivals were done on weekly basis. The roads there were shinny and made of gold and the most surprising thing People there never got sick.
Kembo and Gengo were not used to such a life and they wanted their lives back where they would interact and help people. They decided to work out a plan to go back home since everything around them looked so strange and moreover they had no idea what these people would decide and do to them. One afternoon as they were sited on a rock near the palace they saw a murram path leading to the forest. They knew that was the path they had used to come to that mysterious village because all the roads there were made of gold.
The unfortunate thing was that the palace was well guarded and it was hard for them to escape. That night they prayed to the Creator to help them get out of that mysterious village. The following day the King announced a celebration to honour his quads,special meals and drinks were prepared for the occasion. People came dressed in all types of ornaments and songs of praises to the quads were all over the palace. As the quards were busy celebrating the two friends got a chance to escape out of the palace.
They walked out of the palace without being noticed by anyone. Luckily, they were able to trace the murram road. They started running filled with hopes that the murram road would lead them out of that area. Their Creator helped them and after sometime they were able to get out of that area. They were able to trace their way back home in a journey that took them a couple of weeks.
When they got home people could not believe what they were seeing because they thought they were long dead or eaten by wild animals. They were received with joy and a big festival was done to honour them. Traditional dances and meals were prepared to grace the occasion. The two friends were happy to be back home and to be with the people they were used to. They told their people of the mysterious village and all the villagers were shock.
The following week the men from Tupendane village lead by Kembo and Gengo decided to go and explore the mysterious village and see all the shocking and amazing thing. They searched for that village for years and they were not able to find it and up to date no one can find that mysterious village on earth.
–END–
